While that tour in itself offers plenty to see, it was less than an hour into the trip when the day became especially memorable.

“We had just left and we were on the water looking at a big barge,” Walker told Daily Hive. “We were going around it when we saw this eagle floating in the water, looking like it was struggling a bit.”

At that point, Walker said, one of the guides on the tour determined the bird – which also appeared to be injured – wasn’t going to be able to get itself out of its predicament.

“The bird was completely soaked and all of its feathers were wet,” explained Walker. “It looked to be in a bad way – sort of like it was trying to fly out, but didn’t have anything to get it off on a good start.”

Wanting to help, but aware they were dealing with a wild animal, Walker and the other 11 people on the ship pondered what to do next.

“The driver was really good and asked if anyone had any ideas on what to do,” said Walker. “He ended up grabbing one of the oars and one of the guests hung with the oar trying to get it under the eagle, while two other people held on to him so he wouldn’t fall out of the boat.”

The boat tour group that helped rescue an eagle from the water. (Carolyn Walker photo)

The eagle grabbed on to the oar and was “completely calm,” Walker recalled. “It didn’t panic or anything; almost like it knew it was being rescued.”

The bird did however, “cling to the oar for dear life. It looked like he was really concentrating on hanging on.”